The Apple of Discovery (Case)
|romaji= Hakken no Ringo |date= November 6th, 2012 |arc= Genius vs. God Arc |characters= #James #Heidi #Chitose Toriiooji #Haiji's Sponsor #Killed #Isaac Newton (mentioned) }} |Hakken no Ringo}} is the 1st Case of Yūki Tabata's Hungry Joker. Summary A glowing corpse is found by the police in an alley. The policemen, shocked, say that it wasn't a case for them, and proceed to call the local scientist. Elsewhere, in a building taken over by branches of an apple tree, a person works inside a messy laboratory, when suddenly a girl called Chitose Toriiooji hastily informs him that he was called by the police. Referred as a doctor, a young boy called Heidi ignores her and keeps making a chemical experiment. Chitose tries unsuccessfully to call his attention, but is surprised by a sudden explosion resulted of the experiment that knocks her back. Heidi, holding a shield to protect himself, takes note of the explosion. Annoyed, he turns back to Chitose calling her Yamada, asking why she was in the ground. Despite her anger, he keeps making remarks of her looks and breasts, much to Chitose's annoyance. Back to his experiment, Heidi tells her to leave, but once he hears from Chitose that the reason of the calling was the finding of a Glowing Corpse, Heidi changes his mind and rushes towards the local. In the way there, Chitose begins to introduce herself and Heidi: she's working part time as lab assistant in a research institute alongside her instructor, referred as "mysterious genius scientist boy". She notes an eerily black apple on a desk, commenting that he studies too much "apples" and "glowing things". Once arriving at the isolated alley, Heidi gets very impressed and happy to see the glowing corpse, while Chitose vomits at observing it. Confused about Heidi's behavior, one policeman asks to other who he was, to which he replies it was superiors' orders to work with him. Wondering what the corpse could be, the man sees a hooded old woman appears claiming that it was "God's Act", as she saw a figure rising to the sky after illuminating the corpse. Heidi then tells Chitose that they're coming back to the lab, as he wants to be sure of something. After calling his sponsor to obtain ¥10,000,000 more for his research, Heidi tells Chitose to take the corpse to the lab so they'll autopsy it. Far away from the place, in a high top, a masked figure wonders if the called scientist knows something about "Eureka". The night falls, and the autopsy at Heidi's Lab begins. Skipping the traditional pray before the autopsy, Heidi formulates theories about the corpse, while Chitose Toriiooji keeps yelling at him because of his methods, to which Heidi replies shutting her with the corpse's hand. This prompts her to vomit again, much to Heidi's irritation, as he greatly admires the corpse. Shocked with such behavior, Chitose then starts asking Heidi about his past and family. Heidi tells her that he doesn’t know his family, nor have recollections about his past, only knowing that he was raised by an orphanage. Without any knowledge of his own past, and considering himself an incomprehensible phenomenon, Heidi states that all this time he's searched for any clues. Saying so, he reminds of his only memory: A huge place filled with a massive amount of Glowing Corpses and a mysterious Black Apple bitten in the ground. The same Black Apple is the one on the desk of the lab. Chitose says that it must've been a dream, as the Apple would've rotten during this time, however, with a laser beam, Heidi demonstrates the Apple's regenerative proprieties. He then says that the Apple can't be explained by the current scientific knowledge, neither the glowing corpse. Outside, the mysterious masked person is standing at a tree looking into the lab. Smiling, the tip of his finger starts to glow like the corpse. Heidi demonstrate a deep interest in the autopsied corpse, as he thinks it's related to the Apple. Showing Chitose several files, he notes that apples are often seen as gifts of Gods, with the exception of the Newtonian Apple, believed as the one who led Isaac Newton to formulate his law of universal gravitation. While talking, the corpse starts transforming, getting full of cracks on its surface. Heidi remarks that his researched indicated that Newton formulated his law after drinking the juice of his very own Apple. Before Chitose could ask anything, the glowing corpse, having fully transformed into a horned tall creature, stands up on its bed. He screams and glares at the duo, while Heidi remains calm observing and analyzing the facts, and Chitose trembles in fear. Heidi concludes that its cells revived and started to mutated while they were distracted, getting amazed by what he was witnessing. Confused and frightened, Chitose starts to scream as the monster rampages and destroys the lab, at the same time Heidi names the creature "James". As the two run away from James, large, black spikes protrude from his body, somehow blowing up the entire lab as result. Chitose falls near the Apple, still hearing Heidi proclaims his amaze before the recent explosion. As the smoke dissipates, however, Chitose sees Heidi stabbed into a steel rod and unable to move, only having forces to write in a builder with his shed blood. Witnessing that, she starts to lose hope and says that’s a mistake for mere humans to touch something beyond human’s knowledge, as this it was God's sphere. Heidi, however, states that to deal with the unknown is the exact reason of being a scientist, and asks Chitose to give him the Apple. Grabbing it, he says that they would now enter the Gods' world, beginning to talk about Isaac Newton’s relation with the Apple again. He says that people who noticed the same tried to eat the Apple, but died as result. Wondering why it was different with Newton, Heidi concludes that he was the adapter, but just licked its juice, not drank it, getting the knowledge of the law of universal gravitation as result. Taking a gamble to find out what would happen if Newton had eaten the Apple; Heidi declares that he'll do so. Chitose beings to ask Heidi about terrible scenarios that could happen, but, stating that he knows nothing about it, Heidi finally bites the Apple to discover. As result, Heidi's body reacts abruptly and he screams, much to Chitose's despair. Suddenly, James appears behind and her preparing to attack, but as just she turns back to see him, the same steel rod attached to a piece of wall in which Heidi was stabbed is thrown at the creature's eye. Chitose notes the wreckage floating, while a voice behind her says that in such case the "knowledge" isn't the capacity passed down, but the "power itself". The owner of the voice is none but Heidi, standing upside-down in a broken piece of floor, while everything around him floats, including a bitten Apple. Wearing his surgical mask and with a light source coming out of his belly, he announces the starting of an experiment. Through his newfound power, Heidi propells himself towards James, giving him a massive foot stomp in the belly that sends the monster flying. James stands up, and Heidi, using the force of the air around James, tries to smash him, but finds out that he isn't strong enough to do so. The monster charges at him, while Heidi asks what happens when the same amount of force is applied to a much smaller surface, and then uses such concept of pressure to slice James in a half. Glad with the result, Heidi leaves a dead, bisected James in the ground and floats to the top of a boulder. In tears of joy, Chitose Toriiooji, despite confused, feels happy because it was over. Heidi, however, states that it was just the beginning, as he doesn’t know what exactly happened to him and the glowing corpse, and while observed by the masked figure, proclaims that such knowledge will be the target of his research. Inside a room filled with TV panels, the main one shows Heidi after the incident, while his sponsor observes it and says that another "Eureka" has awakened, and that he's eager to see how far Heidi will go. Abilities and Equipments used Trivia * The history that Heidi is telling to Chitose about "Isaac Newton and the Falling Apple" is a real historical fact, although with a slight fictional side story added to it. Navigation